I didn't answer the other post, but I believe she indicated she was in a call-center. It doesn't work like a regular office and there isn't as much flexibility.
I have worked in places where I have all the flexibility I want. I LOOKED for a job like that after I became a single mom. it's called mommy-tracking for a reason. I was no longer WILLING to do the things I did before when I didn't have a kid. spur of the moment travel, inability to leave in the middle of the day and pick up a sick kid.... those "perks" are important to me now. And they weren't back then. So I make WAAAAY less money now.
But even lots of jobs that AREN'T in a call center.... Breaks are regulated. Look at the checkout person at Wal-mart (or the grocery store or wherever). They can't just LEAVE and go pee when they want. Because they have a line of people waiting for them to be checked out. and their drawer has to be counted and balanced each time they leave. They can't just leave and go eat something if they feel nauseous. Because they have to be present at their job until their specified "break period".
if you work at a factory you can't just shut the line down because you have to pee.
So - someone who is, for WHATEVER reason unable to go for however many hours without peeing..... well, they can't have that job. These are choices that we make in life. You. Can't. Have. Everything.
I guess I look at this similar to when "smokers" think they get extra breaks. At some jobs they do. At some jobs they can't. If you're a smoker and you can't make it from when you arrive until your first break where you have to pee, get a drink, grab a smoke.... then THAT JOB ISN'T FOR YOU. Same as being pregnant or being a mom or whatever.
I made a choice to have my daughter. By not staying in a shitty marriage I made a choice to be a single mom. Which meant it was All. On. Me. She gets sick.... I go pick her up. could I hire someone who would so I could stay at my better paying job? Yep. But that's not the kind of mom I want to be. So, I found a lower paying, more flexible job that could accommodate the priorities in my life.
As far as being on mamapedia during the day or staring off into space.....
Again.... there are jobs where you can do that. I used to work retail. There were days during the Holidays that honest to goodness I opened those doors at 10am and didn't get a chance to eat or pee until I left for the day.... we were that busy and we were understaffed and whatever.
Not all the jobs in the world are flexible. We make choices. We can't have it all. You have to do what makes you be the person you want to be.
I, personally, don't feel like the rest of the people at my job should have to do extra (or deal with unhappy customers because they are now understaffed for the day because I have to go pick up my sick kid) so I found a job that doesn't work like that. But I had more choices than someone who has only ever done factory work.
I think that woman SHOULD have to use her benefit time if the break schedule doesn't work for her. She shouldn't get extra breaks just because she is pregnant, or has a sick kid, or is a smoker, or whatever. I think she has a feeling of entitlement that I guess I wasn't raised to have.
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ETA: We don't live in a socialist society. We live in a Capitalist society. Capitalism is built on productivity.
Yes, a company determines a "standard" for what is allowed. If YOUR personal circumstances don't fit within that standard then you look elsewhere for a job.... or you move to a society that doesn't have an economic system built on productivity. That means ANY personal situation - your *fault* or not.
I know that I am already overloaded at work. Even though I have some flexibility, I still have a full job that takes me more than 40 hours to complete. If I had to pick up someone else's work because they have to leave..... then I am just that much more overloaded, or MY work doesn't get done by MY deadline..... then MY job suffers. There isn't *balance*.... because in a capitalist society, if one "gets".... one gets "taken away from". that's how it works here in the Good Ole USA. Republicans want LESS interference. Less Government. LESS regulation. when you have that kind of society..... well, yes...... pregnancy is seen the same as any other choice that just inhibits and employees ability to be "there" for the job. If you only have 5 people who you can hire..... why would you hire people who you KNOW are going to have to leave for the day sometimes? you don't. THAT'S capitalism. That's a society without regulation.